Symbolism In Anita Desai S Novels

Anita Desai S Work Represents A Unique Blending Of The Indian And The Western. Her Novels Catch The Bewilderment Of The Individual Psyche Confronted With The Overbearing Socio-Cultural Environment And The Ever-Beckoning Modern Promise Of Self-Gratification And Self-Fulfilment. In The Face Of This Dual Onslaught, Her Protagonists, Male Or Female Maya, Sita, Monisha And Amla; Sarah, Nanda And Raka; Bim And Tara; Devan, Baumgartner Are Seen Poised Rentalizingly At Different Junctures Of The Philosophic Spectrum.Applying Sociological, Psychoanalytic, Structural And Other Approaches Of Formal Textual Analysis, The Essays In The Present Anthology Take A Fresh Look At Established Works, Revealing Aspects Of Study Hitherto Unexplored, Offer Critically Insightful Probes Into Individual Novels And Explore The Deployment Of Images, Symbols And Other Poetic Devices, Besides Diverse Narrative Strategies.An Indispensable Source-Book For Students, Researchers And Teachers Of Indian English And Commonwealth Literature In General And Fiction And Anita Desai In Particular.An Insightful Companion For Research In Sociology And Women-Studies.

The Book Is A Pioneering Study Of Its Kind, Chronologically Examining The Novels Of Anita Desai Mostly From A Female Point Of View. The Book Excels In Formally Analysing The Character And Situation Relationship In The Overall Context Of The Feminine Phyche Which It Thoroughly Examines. The Value Of The Book Is Immensely Enhanced By A Consideration Of Anita Desai S Fictional Technique. Dr. Gopal S Formal Method Is Not A Closed Universe But Cross Refers To The Social Structure Within Which The Situations Manipulate Characters And Their Destinies.

Anita Desai, A Recipient Of Many Literary Awards In India And Abroad, And A Creative Writing Teacher At Massachusetts Institute Of Technology Since 1993, In Addition To Being A Fellow Of The Royal Society Of Literature In London And Honorary Fellow Of The University Of Cambridge, Has Proved Herself To Be A Major Indian Novelist Of The Post-Seventies India, Whose Novels Epitomize The Emerging Women S Search For Self-Hood In The Indian Context.Fire On The Mountain (1977), Winner Of The 1978 National Academy Of Letters Award, And Generally Considered Desai S Masterpiece, Is A Beautiful Novel, Focused On Two Elderly Ladies And One Small Girl. Nanda Kaul Retires To A Hill Station House In Her Old Age, And Leads An Isolated Life There, When Her Great-Granddaughter Comes To Stay. With The Arrival Of Raka The Story Takes A New Turn, Gathers Momentum, And Unfurls Quickly To A Symbolic End When The Mountain Has Been Set On Fire.The Atlantic Critical Study Of Fire On The Mountain, Which Is Primarily Meant For The Students Of English Literature Of Indian Universities, Is A Comprehensive, Self-Sufficient And In-Depth Study Of The Text. The Author, A Distinguished Scholar In The Area, Has Taken Special Care To Combine Lucidity And Profundity In Her Treatment Of The Text. In Its Eight Chapters The Present Study Examines The Text From Various Angles Such As The Title, Themes, Characters, Images And Symbols, Narrative Technique, And Feminist Discourse, In Addition To Providing An Introduction , A Brief Story-Outline , And A Detailed Critical Summary Of The Entire Text In Its Three Parts, Along With A Select Bibliography And Sample Questions. The Book Will Be Immensely Useful For Students, Scholars And Teachers In The Area.

Today Anita Desai Is Recognised For Her Originality, Versatility And The Indigenous Flavour Of Her Character-Portrayal That She Brings To Her Work. Her Women Characters Are Real Flesh And Blood Protagonists Who Make You Look At Them With Awe And With Their Relationships To Their Surroundings, Their Society, Their Men, Their Children, Their Families, Their Mental And Psychological Make-Ups And Themselves. The Present Book Purports To Be A Pioneering Attempt To Evaluate Desai S Fiction And Fictional Art From Various Points Of View And Assesses Her Contribution To The Indian-English Fiction. What Is Unique About This Book Is The Attempt To Include Desai S Complete Fictional Oeuvre From Her Maiden Attempt Cry, The Peacock (1963) Till Her Latest Published Work The Zigzag Way (2004). Her Novels Of Four Decades Have Been Divided Into Different Sections For A Focused Study.The Present Critical Anthology Of Dr. Neeru Tandon On Anita Desai Is An Admirable Effort On The Presentation Of A Coherent And Comprehensive Assessment Of Anita Desai As A Powerful Indian English Fiction Writer. In Her Collection She Has Included Certain Burning Topics Of The Day Such As Male-Female Dichotomy, Existentialist Vision, Religion And Culture, Concept Of Marriage And Narrative Technique In The Fiction Of Anita Desai. The Uncomplicated Language And The Natural Flow Of Words Make For Easy Reading. Since Dasai Is Prescribed In The Syllabus In Most Of The Universities Of India, Both The Teachers And The Students Will Find This Book Extremely Useful, And The Research Scholars Will Also Find It Very Interesting And Purposeful.

After The Pioneer Works By Scholars Such As Naik, Narasimhaiah And Mukherjee, And The Thirty Years Of Silence Which Followed Their Ground-Breaking Achievements, The Companion Appears On The Scene Striving To Reinvigorate The Tradition Of Panoramic Studies Of Indian Literature In English. In The Intervening Period, Indian Fiction In English Has Become Of Paramount Importance In The Wide Context Of Postcolonial Studies: An Emergent Crop Of Novelists Belonging To The So-Called New Generation Has Colourfully Paved The Way Towards New Artistic Horizons, Re-Interpreting Western-Derived Literary Models With Inventive Approaches. Complementary To Their Role There Is The Articulate Presence Of A Host Of Indian Scholars Who In Recent Years Have Significantly Influenced The Course Of This Analysis And Have Vitally Contributed To Enlarging Its Scope Well Beyond The Original Boundaries Of Studies In Literary Criticism.The Companion, Therefore, Addresses The Exigencies Of Critics, Teachers And Students Alike All Those Who Need To Find Quick Points Of Reference In This Wide Field Of Studies By Relying On A Team Of Authoritative Collaborators And Specialists From All Over The World. Great Care Was Taken Not Only In Selecting Collaborators On The Basis Of Their Specialisation But Also Taking Into Account Their Cultural Background In Relation To The Author They Were To Discuss. The Book In Fact Has Been Organised To Have What Have Been Deemed To Be The Most Representative Authors In Indian Fiction Discussed In An Essay-Long Chapter Each, Structured To Highlight Crucial Points Such As Biographical Details, Novels And Critical Reception. Each Chapter Includes A Final Bibliography Complete With Primary And Secondary Sources, Enabling The Scholar To Have Immediate Orientation On Various Specific Topics. Finally, The Book Has An Innovative Section, With Synopses Of Novels, Planned To Allow Our Readers To Immediately Place The Authors Analysed Within The Panorama Of Indian Fiction In English. The Over 400 Synopses Included Principally Introduce Works Written By The Novelists Discussed At Length In The Previous Chapters But, Along With Them, It Is Also Possible To Find Summaries Of Works By Authors Who, Although Contributing In A Significant Way To The Development Of Forms And Techniques, Do Not Feature In The First Part.

Based on the life of the middle class intellectuals of Calcutta, it is an unforgettable story of a Bohemian brother and his two sisters caught in the cross-currents of changing social values. In many ways the story reflects a vivid picture of India's social transition - a phase in which the older elements are not altogether dead, and the emergent ones not fully evolved.